Farming a real family affair

Someone asked Scott Pantel how on earth they managed to do all their harvest work without any hired men. His answer: “We put women on the combine.” Farming is a family affair for the Pantel family near Baldur, Manitoba. Scott and his wife Marilynne represent the third generation on the farm and there’s a strong likelihood that their daughter Niomi and son Calum will be the fourth generation of Pantel farmers. Niomi is already a driving a combine like her mom and plans to study Agriculture at University. Calum has already said he wants to farm and shows a keen interest in helping his parents.

Scott says that farming was ‘bred into him’ and doesn’t remember ever wanting to do anything else but farm. But Marilynne is living proof you don’t have to grow up on the farm to have a passion for it. A self-described town girl Marilynne says farming isn’t just a job, it’s a lifestyle and she couldn’t imagine living or raising her family anywhere else. Scott and Marilynne farm together with Scott’s parents Robert and Doris and with sister and brother-in-law Sherry and Bernie Labossiere.

When it comes to doing the work on the farm, everyone is part of the team. But when it comes to doing seed trials, not everyone shares Scott’s passion for trying new things and generating data on their own land. As the combine operator who takes responsibility to harvest them, Marilynne smiles when she describes Scott’s love of trials. For Scott, doing seed trials lets you “try, see, and believe how a product performs on your own land,” he explains. He looks at results and data from other trials of neighbouring farmers he trusts and is open to trying new things.

One of the new things that Scott tried about 10 years ago was soybeans. In his own words, “they were a flop.” But now, after growing soybeans for several years and trying a lot of new soybean varieties, Scott says that his number one reason for growing soybeans on the farm now is yield. Coming in a close second is the fact that he can plant them and forget about them. Scott and Marilynne grow their soybeans in rotation with Genuity® Roundup Ready® canola and he controls his Roundup Ready canola volunteers with a tank mix application of glyphosate and VIPER® ADV herbicide. They are also growing DEKALB® Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® soybeans and conducting a soybean trialthis year with the newest DEKALB® Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybean varieties.

When it comes to canola, Scott likes his fields clean and his hybrids to finish early. Staging the harvest is critical to keeping the Pantel operation running at maximum efficiency. Scott is growing DEKALB 75-45 RR, a high yielding and early maturing hybrid that was already coming out of flower and starting to pod when we visited the farm on July 13. The Pantels also grow DEKALB 75-65 RR to help manage their harvest; they like the ability to straight cut or swath this hybrid with its early dry down. These new hybrids complement the tried and true performance of DEKALB 74-44BL that they grow for its yield potential and strong blackleg package.

There’s no doubt that Scott and Marilynne try to time everything on their farm. Whether it was the timing of their wedding and honeymoon or the birth of their children, when it’s time to harvest, every member of the family is working tirelessly to ensure the farm is successful.

We thank Scott and Marilynne for choosing DEKALB brand seed for their farm and wish the entire family a safe and successful harvest this year and for many years to come. Check out the results of the Pantel family trial and other farmer-managed DEKALB Market Development trials on DEKALB.ca this fall.